Video and Photos: Protestor with Flare Runs Onto Court During French Open Men’s Final

(June 9, 2013) Fans at Philippe Chatrier Court had some unexpected and unwelcomed protectors inside the stadium during the men’s final between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer on Sunday.

Protestors on neighboring Suzanne Lenglen court

All was going according to plan for Nadal to capture his eighth Roland Garros title. Earlier in the second set, however, rambunctious protestors, in favor of children’s rights, in the last row of the stadium had to be escorted out by security.

Then at 6-3, 5-1 with Nadal ready to serve, a shirtless and masked protestor with the words “KIDS RIGHT” written across his chest, ran onto Nadal’s side of the court, lighting a red flare. Nadal’s instincts kicked in and he started to run toward the exit, but seemingly stopped when realizing the protestor had been contained.

Security tackled the man and threw him off the court as another security personnel guarded Nadal. The man was taken off the court while security worked on extinguishing the flame in the corridor.

In the video below, you can also see security escort another shirtless man just as the incident occurred.

It not only shoot up the fans, but also Nadal as he lost serve the next game, but was able to break back and take the second set 6-2.

In his interview with John McEnroe, Nadal gave his thought when asked about the on-court protestor.

“Well, I felt a little bit scared in the first moment,” said Nadal. “These kinds of things are impossible to predict. When these kinds of things happen, we are very lucky that we have good security around. They managed very well to stop the situation.”